The pyramid of Reherishefnakht is the tomb of the ancient Egyptian official Reherishefnakht. It is located in south

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...

and was built right next to the

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

of the

6th Dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho acc ...

pharaoh

Pepi I Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years at the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of ...

. Reherishefnakht's pyramid however was probably built at the end of the 11th Dynasty or the beginning of the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some ...

. It is the oldest Egyptian pyramid built for a person who was not a member of the royal family. The pyramid was discovered a few years before it was first excavated by Audran Labrousse and the ''Mission Archéologique Française de Saqqâra'' in 2005.

Pyramid

The base of the pyramid measures only 13.1 m x 13.1 m and is thus clearly smaller than the surrounding royal pyramids. The building material was mainly

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

rubble, which had originally been used in other nearby buildings and was recycled for this pyramid. Among this material some older offering tables, stele, chapel doorposts and lintels were found. Several of the blocks are inscribed and contain the names and titles of hitherto unknown individuals from the late

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

. For example, a broken lintel was found which had belonged to the tomb of a previously unknown wife of Pepi I named Sebutet. Further fragments were discovered which belonged to the burial chamber of a woman named Behenu.

Substructure

From the north, a shaft led down to the burial chamber. This was located underground and was a small room. Its ceiling consisted of plates, located at the same height as the base of the pyramid. The furthest forward of them had the name of the tomb's owner written on them in red paint. The decoration of the burial chamber is a synthesis of motifs from the 6th dynasty and the 11/12th dynasties. For example, a band of hieroglyphs intended for the exterior of a sarcophagus were combined with 6th dynasty motifs used for decorating the interior of sarcophagi. The upper parts of the west and south walls is decorated with a frieze which depicts the burial of Reherishefnakht. The lower parts of the same walls and the whole of the east wall are inscribed with hieroglyphs. The western portion of the inscription consists of spells 214–217 of the

Pyramid Texts The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterrane ...

, while the eastern part contains spell 335 of the Coffin Texts.

Bibliography

* Catherine Berger-El Naggar, Audran Labrousse: "La tombe de Rêhérychefnakht à Saqqâra-Sud, un chaînon manquant?" ''Bulletin de la Société Française d'Égyptologie.'' Vol. 164, Paris 2005, pp. 14–28. * Audran Labrousse, Jean Leclant. "Neue Entdeckungen der Mission Archéologique Française de Saqqâra (Kampagnen 2001–2005)." ''Sokar.'' No. 13, 2006, pp. 36–37. * Christoffer Theis. "Die Pyramiden der Ersten Zwischenzeit. Nach philologischen und archäologischen Quellen." ''Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur.'' (SAK) Vol. 39, Hamburg 2010, pp. 321–339.

External links

Die Königinnenpyramiden der Pyramide Pepi I.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reherishefnakht Pyramid Buildings and structures in Giza Governorate Saqqara Buildings and structures completed in the 20th century BC 20th century BC in Egypt Pyramids of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Pyramids of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt

Pyramid

Substructure

See also

Bibliography

External links